Little Chute Holiday Dance Invitational

By Maya Weyenberg

The Little Chute Dance Team held their 12th annual Holiday Dance Invite on December 12, 2015. There were seventy-one teams and over 1,000 dancers in attendance throughout the entire day. Competitors came from all over the state, with the Hudson dance team traveling four hours to attend the competition. Teams began checking into the competition at 6:30 in the morning and continued throughout the day. The competition was split up into three sections; Middle School and Elementary, Varsity Pom, and Varsity Dance.

  The morning consisted of middle school age groups and under. There were both scholastic, studio, and all-star teams. The high school solos, small groups, and duet performances went on throughout the morning session in the auditorium. After the morning session was finished it was time for awards. The most important award given was the Highest Score of the Day, which was awarded to Dollhouse Dance Factory Elite Open team for their open hip hop routine.  

The pom session started in the afternoon at 1:00. The Varsity competition is split up into two sections because many teams compete in the pom competition but not in the dance divisions. This helps to keep the event a little more organized. During the pom competition middle school and elementary solos, small groups, and duets took place in the auditorium. At 4:00 the pom awards took place in the fieldhouse along with the morning solo, small groups, and duet awards. The highest score of the pom competition was awarded to Green Bay Southwest Troyettes for their division two pom routine. Immediately after, the high school dance session began. This was the last session of the day. It consisted of division one and two jazz, pom, kick, and hip hop routines. When it came to awards time the highest score of session three was given to a division one jazz routine from Bay Port.

There were many different exciting parts to the competition. The Little Chute team included a coffee and hot chocolate bar, which was set up and decorated by Laura Hietpas’ mom and grandma. Competition apparel was also sold throughout the day.

If you have ever met a dancer, you know that glitter and sparkles will always make them happy, so glitter letters were available for them to be heat pressed to the back of their apparel. They also had a candy bar. Dancers or their parents were able to fill up a bag with many different kinds of their favorite candy. The famous Dippin Dots company was also there to provide a cold treat for the dancers after they finished all of their performances. In addition to the normal concessions stand they also had Carnival Time Popcorn outside selling kettle corn throughout the day.

It was a very long, but fun and exciting day. Many teams left with multiple trophies and medals to remember all of their outstanding performances. The team members, parents, and other volunteers put in a lot of hard work and time to make the event such a success. Thank you to all of them for their long hours that day! They are already looking forward to The Little Chute Holiday Invite of 2016!